Lore

Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 2021

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Symbols & Motifs

The Agon

The Agon, named for the Greek god of contests, is the main event around which Lore centers. For seven days every seven years, Zeus turns the other Olympian gods mortal and sends them to Earth, where they spend the week fighting to stay alive. For centuries, the descendants of ancient Greek heroes have participated in the hunt. At the time Lore is set, only four groups of descendants, called houses, remain: the Kadmides (descendants of Kadmos), Achillides (descendants of Achilles), Odysseides (descendants of Odysseus), and Theseides (descendants of Theseus). The houses of Jason, Herakles, Meleager, and Bellerophon died out long ago, and Lore is the last mortal of the Perseides (House of Perseus).

The rules of the Agon are set out in an origin poem written by Zeus himself. The hunt is punishment for long-forgotten transgressions committed by the other Olympians. If a hunter manages to kill a god, then they ascend to godhood for the next seven years. They then are hunted in the next Agon. In the intervening seven years, the gods may walk amongst their house and lead their followers to greatness and power on Earth. The Agon offers hunters the ability to claim their ultimate goal, kleos—the honor of being remembered forever for their epic deeds. The houses have influence and establishments across the world, and before each Agon, the leaders meet to vote on where the next hunt will be held. Once decided, they move the omphalos stone, what was once believed to be the center of the world.

The Agon coming to New York represents how Lore never truly escaped the world of the hunt. After the murder of her family, she fled abroad until meeting Gil (Hermes) and returning to New York. The Agon’s arrival upends the carefully constructed world she’s built around herself and pulls her back into the hunt. Throughout the book, Lore defends her city from the destruction of both gods and hunters. She needs a reason to fight, and New York gives her something to protect. Learning that Gil was Hermes shatters Lore’s feeling of safety in the city. New York still holds her heart, but it no longer symbolizes the normal life she claims to crave.

The Aegis

The aegis is at the center of Lore’s conflict. In Greek mythology, the aegis was a shield (or an animal skin in some versions of the myths) wielded by Zeus, who sometimes lent the shield to Athena (his daughter). Bracken stays true to the shield version of the aegis. She describes it as baring the image of Medusa (a Gorgon), being painted gold, and roaring when provoked. In some stories, the aegis produced fog when shaken, something not seen in Lore. Aegis has several translations, one of which is “divine shield.”

Bracken departs from Zeus loaning the aegis to Athena, rather suggesting Zeus gifted the shield to her. Throughout Lore, reference is made to the many times Athena used the shield over the ages, and the goddess describes the feel of charging into battle with the shield on her arm. The aegis represents Athena’s complicated relationship with Zeus. The aegis is the only thing left that Zeus gave her, and Athena views the shield both as a symbol of his love and a mark of his anger. Athena plays a mind game with Lore for the entire book, her intention for Lore to hand over the shield. Athena wants the shield for its power and to obtain ultimate power, believing it can help her destroy Wrath and win the Agon. Though it isn’t said, there seems to be more to her desire for the aegis. Athena may want the shield to prove herself to her father.

The aegis also represents the downfall of Lore’s family. The shield was gifted to Perseus and, thus, can only be wielded by his descendants. Years ago, Wrath stole the aegis for the Kadmides and tried to buy Lore in order to have someone who could wield it. Desperate to escape Wrath’s control, Lore stole the aegis, which allowed Athena an opening to murder Lore’s family and stoked Wrath’s hatred for Lore. If Lore hadn’t stolen the shield, her family may have escaped the Agon’s world altogether. However, if Lore’s family left the Agon, Wrath may have had no one to challenge him, thus leading to him gaining ultimate power as a god. The aegis instigated both Lore’s separation from and rejoining with the Agon.

Technology and Magic

Technology and magic are present throughout Lore and show how both may be used for aid or destruction. Rather than cancel one another out, as is the case in many urban fantasy novels, the two function without problem and often work in tandem with one another. When Wrath infiltrates the Achillide feeds to take over the hologram projection at the party in Chapter 9, the Achillide technicians are not able to arrest back control, and Van later reveals they can’t trace how the system was hacked, implying Wrath used his power to infiltrate the feeds. As Ares reborn, Wrath can instill fear in any who listen to him, which works just as well over the feed as it does in person. The hunters also make use of everyday modern technology, such as smart phones.

The houses mainly use technology to watch one another’s movements. Van carries remote-controlled drones for reconnaissance, which are also outfitted to take minor offensive action when needed. At many points throughout the book, Van sifts through camera feeds, hacks into public cameras, or highjacks the security systems of the other houses, mainly the Kadmides. Through doing so, we see that the other houses have a similar level of technology. Wrath tracks Lore and several others with frightening accuracy, even though they understand his reconnaissance capabilities and are practiced in avoiding them. The houses don’t typically use technology for destruction, preferring to do battle and work toward kleos. The Kadmides’ decision to break with tradition shows how Wrath plans to end the Agon and usher in a new era.

In contrast to technology’s passive role in the story, magic is used mainly to aid or destroy. It is never explained why, but the gods maintain their powers during the Agon—even though they are stripped of their immortality, the thing that allows them to be supernatural beings. With Apollo’s power, Castor represents both sides of magic’s role in Lore. Not only does Apollo’s power actively work to heal Castor of his cancer, but Castor also uses his healing abilities on the rest of the main group, mostly on Lore and Athena. His magic does not discriminate between god or mortal, seeming to work equally well on both. Athena, too, uses her power for aid. After the explosion in Chapter 30, Athena holds debris out of the way so people can get to safety.